Frost_edelweiss

Yes, very science fictional concept. Close time strands sometimes overlapping. Not exactly time-travel, even if the 2026 and 1983 to 1990s in the drama look much like actual ones.

One clue for me: the electric taser in the beginning. I strongly doubt such a thing could have been found casually and affordably by ML to give to FL in 1983. It was a military tool created in the USA in 1974 and not even seen in Europe in the 1980s! That's maybe why FL was on the lookout for possible other transmigrators, in first episodes.

adding : "Under the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Control of Firearms and Public Security Punishment Law, Tasers are prohibited for civilian ownership in China without an application for a state licence. A weapons permit is required to purchase and own a Taser". Same as firearms are and have been banned for private use in the country for many many years. It is much much easier to get a permit to buy in a market or big tech mall + fly a private drone and film places (outside a certain number of locations specifically banned from filming, such as Tian an men square and vicinity, or military installations, of course!)

yes, those earrings, the designs, ... I miss them. Our times have become so trashy.
Nice reading your appreciation of the drama so far ! ️🙂❤️

I must re-watch this, because I did not pay attention to that mention if it's in the episode.
Anita Mui Yim-fong (Chinese: 梅艷芳; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene. She is still very famous.

Oh, don't take your moral and philosophical models from dramas! Just enjoy the fiction and entertainment, and if your fave(s) is(/are) playing in it, admire his/her/their visuals ️🙂❤️

Agree, but it will find its audience, I'm sure, despite the stiff competition of the Reform era themed dramas about youths chasing their dreams that have been showering since February!

I pause to notice that 2024-2025 was a big year for looking back at the Reform era !
At least four dramas were about youths of the period chasing their dreams, so fans of lead actors or actresses could take their pick when they released (one is upcoming shortly*) :

1/ OUR DAZZLING DAYS (filmed May 24-September 27, 2024, in Benxi, Liaoning, 30 episodes, released February 13, 2026, on iQiyi + CCTV, starring Johnny Huang - Douban opening rating 6.5 on March 9, rising to 6.6 on March 20, 2026 "Keep in mind Douban is harsh on dramas : usually they don't get ratings above 7 compared to MDL")

2/ MY DESTINY/MY MOUNTAINS AND SEA (filmed for 130 days from end of Nov 2024 till April 7 , 2025, in Shenzhen and Guizhou, 30 episodes released March 7, 2026, on Youku + CCTV, starring Seven Tan Songyun -no opening DB rating released yet)

3/ DREAM OF GOLDEN YEARS /NI HAO 1983 ("time travel drama" filmed Nov. 2024 to March 12, 2025, in Beijing, Shenzhen, 36 episodes released March 17, 2026, on iQiyi, starring Zhou Ye and Zhai Xiaowen - still airing)

4/ LIVE UP TO YOUR YOUTH /冬去春来 Dong Qu Chun Lai (filmed July 1, 2025 to October 27, 2025 in Beijing, starring Bai Yu, Zhang Ruonan, and Jelly Lin . It is set in Beijing from the 1990s to 2018, for 35 episodes *upcoming on March 22, 2026 for 35 episodes on iQiyi .

I pause to notice that 2024-2025 was a big year for looking back at the Reform era !
At least four dramas were about youths of the period chasing their dreams, so fans of lead actors or actresses could take their pick when they released (one is upcoming shortly*) :

1/ OUR DAZZLING DAYS (filmed May 24-September 27, 2024, in Benxi, Liaoning, 30 episodes, released February 13, 2026, on iQiyi + CCTV, starring Johnny Huang - Douban opening rating 6.5 on March 9, rising to 6.6 on March 20, 2026 "Keep in mind Douban is harsh on dramas : usually they don't get ratings above 7 compared to MDL")

2/ MY DESTINY/MY MOUNTAINS AND SEA (filmed for 130 days from end of Nov 2024 till April 7 , 2025, in Shenzhen and Guizhou, 30 episodes released March 7, 2026, on Youku + CCTV, starring Seven Tan Songyun -no opening DB rating released yet) -edit March 22: 6.6

3/ DREAM OF GOLDEN YEARS /NI HAO 1983 ("time travel drama" filmed Nov. 2024 to March 12, 2025, in Beijing, Shenzhen, 36 episodes released March 17, 2026, on iQiyi, starring Zhou Ye and Zhai Xiaowen - still airing)

4/ LIVE UP TO YOUR YOUTH /冬去春来 Dong Qu Chun Lai (filmed July 1, 2025 to October 27, 2025 in Beijing, starring Bai Yu, Zhang Ruonan, and Jelly Lin . It is set in Beijing from the 1990s to 2018, for 35 episodes *upcoming on March 22, 2026 for 35 episodes on iQiyi .

Direct link to the songs and brief introduction to the musicians : https://kisskh.at/discussions/754307-my-destiny/149548-my-destiny-my-mountain-and-sea-ost

You can sing along some of the lyrics MVs.

Thanks a lot, Peachey Blossom! So as your hard and valuable work there does not get lost in the avalanche of comments, I pinned the link to your comment, adding it into a new Discussions item : "1983 Dream of Golden Years OST music" , adding also a brief introduction to the singers + another popular song heard in the drama, but not in OST.
Direct link : https://kisskh.at/discussions/776939-again-my-life/149650-1983-dream-of-golden-years-ost-music

In the hope that others will like the music! 🎵🎶

Direct link to the songs and brief introduction to the musicians : https://kisskh.at/discussions/754307-my-destiny/149548-my-destiny-my-mountain-and-sea-ost

You can sing along some of the lyrics MVs.

I may get back to watch it if I have time,... Aaah time troubles: running too fast!

Have fun, and look up in Discussions for the OST links and the album visual + If I have time,in the coming days, I will add brief bios for the singers too.

If one did, why not another.... Xia Xiaolan was expecting that. Perhaps she had been watching many transmigration dramas in her modern times, with that trope lol
Latest I saw of that kind was "How dare You", although I got sidetracked so did not pursue after a few episodes. 🤣

Funny short of ZY and Zhai Xiaowen singing : yes, she still has trouble keeping a note ...
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/n90zehfd-Oc

Ep.10 The drama is fast paced and engaging despite sometimes becoming preachy. It goes with the territory since Xia Xiaolan has to even the scores with some underhanded players. Zhou Ye uses her advantages as a top actress to the full. I have watched a few of her dramas and movies and she is skilled: having her here as FL is perfect. She does embody the little bullied girl (she did such a role early on) showing indomitable spirit and confidence, and some cunning. And her rise to trendy fashion conscious graduate, trading in colored dresses and clothes at the time of the Reform and Opening Up period is a feast for the eyes.

8:29 the four going to a large club to sing "My Future Is Not A Dream" is a contrast to the three girls in "My Destiny" ("My Mountains and Sea") who sing that song one evening at the beginning of their upward rise in the late 1990s. But Zhou Ye 's voice goes off key, and it is merciful that good singer Zhai Xiaowen (whose career as s singer I have not checked but will) took over. Zhou Ye plays very well but she does indeed need dubbing by a pro, like she did in" Love Me Love My Voice"...(At the time I remember how Tan Jianci ground his teeth while keeping a benign smile on his face to shut off her terrible attempt at singing Happy Birthday to him 🤣

I am wondering what technological tools (auto-tune or more) were used to make her voice listenable in the "promotional song" (or was she dubbed there) : her name appears together with that of Zhai Xiaowen, whose real voice as a singer and actor is very pleasant.

We ought to keep this private aside conversation unrelated to present drama under spoilers.

Dream of Golden Years reached Ep 10 where 8:29 the four friends going to a large club in Shenzhen 1984-1985 to sing "My Future Is Not A Dream". It contrasts interestingly with the three girls in "My Destiny" ("My Mountains and Sea") who sing that song one evening at the beginning of their upward rise. But by contrast to Tan Songyun, Zhou Ye still can't sing to save her life, and it is merciful that good singer Zhai Xiaowen (whose career as s singer I have not checked but will) took over. Zhou Ye plays very well, but for singing, she does indeed need dubbing by a pro, like she did in" Love Me Love My Voice"...(At the time I remember how Tan Jianci ground his teeth while keeping a benign smile to shut off her terrible attempt at singing Happy Birthday to him 🤣 She has not improved on that ability, it is a deficiency she'll have to live with. )

Happy you appreciated "Escape From The Trilateral Slopes". The director is quirky but extremely talented and the team he works with has now become familiar to me since that opus and earlier on since "Reset",

As for Ren Jialun, are you a Jiaren? RJL has been in my fave book for years, both as actor, musician, sportsman.... He always shines in what he does. Of course, I did not miss "Silent Tides", especially since it came as a sort of part of a few dramas about Àomén designed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the return of the city to China which I saw one already of ("Begin Again" 2024 starring Elvis Han). I like dramas based on real History or showcasing cities. "Silent Tides" was not a documentary but like "War of Faith"(the drama featuring Wang Yibo in one of his best roles) drew attention to real Historical figures in a way which, although simplified, explained a lot about the times and the places. And the OST was pleasant.

If you don't already know RJL's personal albums, here is my favorite song from the one he titled 32 (The First Album) in 2021 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrZFGcGYjtU
I also like other non-OST songs of him, like "Dreamers Never Sleep" and his version of "Pipa Xing" on the poem of Bai Juyi :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTjkZPEPZ5Q
(I also like Luo Yunxi's musical version of that old poem).
Bonus; this mini collection of stage performances added in August last year on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x22sQKXlQcQ
Enjoy!

haha, thanks, I'll add it into my tbw then, to honor the Scorpion king ;)
Noticing that the FL is same as in EITDN in which she played a year earlier, following readily the sparks of Jesse Ren. Why not ?

Even Avenue X has good things to say about it and recommends watching it !!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1avBZFI_IM

For once, I generally agree with her views about this unusual and not ordinary feel-good drama.

Catching up on ep. 6 now. Very much liking it: unusual plot although I was initially reluctant about the transmigration or falling into alternate universe angle.

The 1980 period is well used as backdrop, to (re-)"discover" and show how to strike it rich there. Our young proto-capitalist Xiaolan the future student, had fun in the "Wild East" of opening small markets , counted shrewdly her eggs and rebates, applying modern marketing techniques to the sleepy village market : entertaining.!

But... she defends herself with a... (was it a taser?!!!) That was puzzling : was this a voluntary anachronism or a clue that this "past" time was not in same universe as the one she fell from, very much alike but with small differences like the absence of some people she expected to find? "The electric taser was invented in 1974 by Jack Cover, a NASA researcher and physicist" -- no idea a similar device could have been used by ordinary citizens in China in the early 1980s!!

The story gets interesting since I can't yet make up my mind whether it is plain time travel or shifting between time threads or time loop. It looks realistic but has a science fiction feeling . I don't really like the "present day flashbacks to 2015-2026" or jumping to tragic accident, though. Are they that necessary?

It is not the first time I noticed Zhai Xiaowen in a drama.
First times were probably as Jiang Lang in FIYS, next as Liu Yucheng in Sweet Teeth.
It takes time for me, but now, I'll pay more attention.
He looks really sweet, eager and innocent in those first episodes and does stand out on screen.

I was wondering if the evil cousin from the across the street vendor stall had conned the busy teacher, telling her that the news had already been sent, while she evil cousin had somehow "mislaid" the results in the office, so the teacher would bear the blame if there was an investigation. But was the evil cousin a high school student familiar with the office? And the principal did find the results somewhere, how, when, is not clear.

Oh yes,it crossed my mind too , 😂